[Insight & Opinion] The Kim Byungki Case and the Unfair Job Market

According to reports, Assemblyman Kim Byungki's wife was found to have called the Director of Planning at the National Intelligence Service in the past regarding their eldest son's recruitment. She reportedly said, "You ruined a young person's life by failing him in the background check," and, "I felt I had no choice but to call, as I couldn't proceed without a definite answer from you." The Director of Planning offered a solution that seemed to promise recruitment: "We will be hiring additional experienced professionals, and I will keep your son in mind." "It will be handled within this year, so please trust me and wait just once more. I will take responsibility." Several months later, the eldest son was hired by the National Intelligence Service. In online communities, people have responded cynically, asking, "What kind of mother calls the Director of Planning at the National Intelligence Service just because her son failed the recruitment process?"

Allegations of favoritism have also been raised regarding the transfer of Assemblyman Kim's second son to Soongsil University and his employment at a virtual asset exchange, suggesting the use of parental influence. The controversy over preferential treatment in employment is not limited to this family. The eldest son of Lee Hyehoon, the Minister of Planning and Budget nominee, wrote a thesis with his father, a professor, as the corresponding author and was later hired by a government-funded research institute. Lee's third son worked as a National Assembly intern during high school. The individuals involved deny any allegations of influence-peddling.

The majority of citizens face fierce competition for employment, which is a life-defining challenge. However, under a government that claims to pursue equality, the inequality of employment opportunities is only worsening. The elite tend to privately distribute scarce jobs to their own families, alumni, or political factions.

In December last year, a ruling party lawmaker sent a message to a presidential office secretary, asking for a "junior from Chung-Ang University" to be appointed as president of the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association. The secretary replied, "Yes, sir, I will recommend him to Hunsik and Hyunji." In March last year, Noh Taeak, Chairman of the National Election Commission, issued a public apology over allegations of preferential hiring for children of high-ranking officials. The controversy over former President Moon Jaein's son-in-law's preferential hiring at Eastar Jet suggests that recruitment corruption may extend to the highest levels of power.

Inequality in employment opportunities has spread beyond a small elite to permeate society as a whole. In December last year, the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission uncovered 832 violations related to recruitment, such as arbitrary selection of successful candidates, at 458 public institutions. Some large corporations secretly select candidates from specific top departments of Seoul's most prestigious universities. According to university information disclosures, five of Seoul's top universities awarded A grades to 57-60% of their students. In contrast, most mid-tier universities, which use relative grading, limited the proportion of A grades to the low-to-mid 30% range. Since transcripts do not indicate whether grades were assigned absolutely or relatively, graduates from mid-tier universities are positioned as inferior to prestigious university graduates in the job market based on their grades. Public institutions are required to hire 30% of their new employees from local talent pools, but this quota is not being met ("Local talent quota not met, but the law was followed... loopholes in the exception clause," Gwangju MBC).

Bourdieu's theory of "social capital" and Arrow and Phelps' theory of "statistical discrimination" both explain the unfair recruitment market in Korean society. The elite use their power and wealth to form social capital through personal connections, granting employment privileges to their children and acquaintances. According to the theory of statistical discrimination, for the few good jobs available, employers tend to select candidates based on the average characteristics of groups such as graduates from Seoul's top universities, rather than verifying each applicant's individual potential. Thus, inequality in employment opportunities becomes institutionalized.

It is difficult to escape once you start at a small or medium-sized enterprise, where salaries are only 60% of those at large corporations, or as a non-regular worker, where pay is half that of regular employees. Such a job market makes life unhappy for the majority of citizens who graduated from mid-tier universities. Many job seekers today are experiencing severe psychological anxiety. If preferential hiring by those in power and structural discrimination continue, the anxiety of young people will reach a tipping point and turn into uncontrollable anger.

Professor Heo Manseop, Gangneung-Wonju National University